-The Hindu Business Line FPOs are for the small producer, typically left out by schemes and sops. They need not just inputs but marketing support Agriculture provides livelihoods to millions of small landholders in India. A few government initiatives to support farmers — such as increased MSP, interest subsidies, free electricity, and Loan Waivers — reach a limited percentage of farmers and, hence, have a limited impact. The Telangana Government’s decision to provide...

  In its 2014 election manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), among other things, promised to "take steps to enhance the profitability in agriculture, by ensuring a minimum of 50% profits over the cost of production". In his 2018-19 Union budget speech too, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley informed the Parliament that the 2014 election manifesto of the BJP had stated that the farmers should get at least 1.5 times the...

-The Hindu Business Line The Centre and States must eschew the politically expedient option of Loan Waivers and look for long-term solutions The sweeping wave of Loan Waivers has generated serious debates across the country on their economics and likely outcomes. Till date 12 States have announced Loan Waiver amounting to more than Rs.2 lakh crore. Loan Waiver cannot be a solution to address the agrarian crisis, instead the government must look for...

-The Indian Express According to the Cooperative Department website, the three societies, which are currently under investigation, have waived loans of 3,073 farmers. Jaipur: Several residents of Govadi village in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district on Saturday discovered that they were beneficiaries of the farm Loan Waiver announced by the previous BJP government in the state. However, the realisation soon led to confusion among the residents as they had never taken an agricultural...

-The Hindu Business Line To help farmers, a long-term plan to improve input delivery, irrigation and rural infrastructure is a must Some 60 years ago, the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said: “Everything can wait except agriculture”. But for the last two decades, agriculture has been waiting even as the economy has continued to make rapid strides. The country is today paying a price for the omissions and commissions of successive governments...